An unusual Gig...*S*

[Medi]

...Izee' had sung this song as she was leaving the Forests...she had climbed aboard a drakka...willingly...to go with a Man that she had thought she had caught...but who had caught her.  Her Sisters had watched...and replied...

https://youtu.be/4_FIwLoIHBY

[Medi]

...OK...OK...OK....True CONFESSION TIME!!!     At Conservatory, we students would perform works that were composed by other students for their Music Composition Recitals, and such.     I was once in an Octet...two violins, viola, cello, flute, clarinet, oboe and french horn.  We were performing a very difficult 'modern' work that a Master Student had composed.  It was VERY difficult, technically, and it was very fast and atonal...there was NO MELODY!      And, it was very difficult to fit in your part...the other players were just playing fast notes.     I got distracted during the performance...and lost my place in the score.      I had to keep playing...so I just got into 'thumb position' and loudly played an 'Exercise' I just made up as I went along.     I did figure out where I should be about 17 seconds later, and got back to playing the written notes.  I was having a drink with the clarinetist after the concert, and grumbled to him about the work...and how I had very badly screwed up, and had just made up notes.     He laughed, and ordered me another glass of wine, and said..."I got lost, too...didn't you hear me playing 'Happy Birthday?"     I almost spit out my drink...I was laughing so hard.   

[Medi]

...When she and her children had been 'parked' in Turia for several months by the Ubar, Izee' and her family did whatever jobs they could find in order to pay for lodging, and the daily bowls of bosk stew, and the occasional snack.  Izee' had convinced some fellow musicians that her son, Tavi, could read music, and had good stage presence, and that the FW in the audience would be delighted to see him...he was growing up into a very handsome young man.     Alas...when he was called upon, and hired, to 'turn pages'...Izee' was later told to keep him AWAY from ANY musical performances for the INDEFINITE future.   

https://youtu.be/Bj8iDDx1k38

[Medi]

...At the end of Migration, Tristan, Keagan, and Stefan try to 'entertain' Tuchuk by playing instruments they had 'liberated' from Turia.     After they were done, the Ubar assigned them to extended 'patrol duty' for five hands.   

A guy REALLY did this to me at Conservatory...I was very gullible when I was young.   

I was having a snack at the food court, and was studying a Brahms sonata I was working on.  The guy, a violinist, showed up, carrying a cup of coffee, and just sat at my table without saying anything.  He had a very morose look on his face, and I put aside the score and looked at him.     I asked, "What is wrong, Ted?"  He took a sip of coffee, his hands trembling, and quietly said, "You know that I also play the accordian."  I just nodded...he had INFLICTED the DAMN INSTRUMENT on us at some parties...and had once tried to get me to perform an accordian/cello duet with him.  He sipped more coffee, and softly said, "Well, I had an accordian gig last night, it paid well, and I stopped at the Market to buy some good food and a bottle of wine to celebrate."  I nodded again, and said, "I do that, too, when I get some extra money."  He sighed, and said, "Well, when I came back to my car, a rear, side window had been broken."  I sighed, and reached out with my right hand.  He took it in his, and said..."My worst expectations came to pass when I looked into the back seat of my car."  I squeezed his hand...and whispered..."Oh Ted...I am so sorry."     He got tearful...squeezed my hand...and softly said..."When I looked into my car...."

"There was now TWO accordians sitting there in the back seat."   

I went back to studying my sonata...

https://youtu.be/dRm0E54lM_g

[Medi]

...Years ago, when the Tuchuk 'trashed' Turia, Izee' had been distracted by a certain shop.  She went in, and the cowering craftsman said that he made musical instruments.  Izee' had walked around, examining the instruments, and was enchanted by how elegant they were.  She told the craftsman that she would spare his life, but that he would become her thrall, and that he would craft a musical instrument fit for an Ubar and His Ubara, if he wanted to stay alive.     He agreed, and she took him with her, along with all of his tools and supplies, and set him in a wagon to create the new musical instrument.  For several years, he worked on the instrument.  Izee' would look in on him, often, and demand to know when it was going to be finished!     He would show her the parts he was working on, and try to explain them to her...but she would just growl and walk away.  Finally, at the end of Migration, he told her that it was ready...but that it would be best if it was unveiled before everyone at once...and that she shouldn't see it early.  Izee' reluctantly agreed...the parts he had shown her looked harmless...and musical.

The musical instrument was brought out...covered...and then the thrall pulled off the cover and played the instrument...

Izee' stood afterwards, and looked at the Ubar and Ubara, and said..."Well, if raiders make it tae the inner wagons, my children an I will throw those metal balls at them."   

https://youtu.be/IvUU8joBb1Q

[Medi]

...Some think that we musicians don't feel the music when we play, that we are just playing the dots and lines.  These two women truly show how they are feeling as they perform this work.  https://youtu.be/YqVRcFQagtI

Sometimes, you perform music that has other emotions.  I was Principal Cello when we performed a Piazzola concerto for Bandaneon.  A Bandaneon looks like a small accordian, but it has a very mello sound, very soft and intimate.  The 1st movement was quick, and exciting.  The 2nd movement was very different, dark, slow, and very erotic.  The soloist was a very handsome Russian, and the rehearsals had gone well.  The 1st violinist was a lovely, blond woman, and I didn't look too bad, with my dark hair and eyes.  The 2nd movement was slow, and there were alternating duets between the soloist, the 1st violinist, and me.  The performance was...well...off the charts.  The soloist ignored the audience when he had a duet with one of us, and would lean towards the woman, and urge her  with his body to follow him.  I found myself staring into his eyes when we had a duet...and catching my breath as he played with the other woman...and then he would slowly turn to me for our next duet... ...and I would stare back into his eyes...

At the reception after the concert, as I was having a second glass of wine, a friend came up to me and said..."Did you have an affair with the Russian during the week?  You two looked like you were...well."  I grabbed a 3rd glass of wine, and said, "No...but...do you know the room number of the hotel he is staying in?"

I briefly spoke to the 1st violinist during the reception...she was also drinking more wine than usual...and she said that she had had similar feelings.   

[Medi]

...This one made me cry...I am not sure why...

https://youtu.be/DHdkRvEzW84

[Medi]

...Dugg had captured a lot of young kajirae when we had sacked Turia, and trained them to play musical instruments.  Here, they perform before the Ubar at the central fire.   

I just LOVE this work, played it many times.  I especially like the last movement...the ornery cellos say..."Hey, we don't want to play this Irish jig...we are going to play 'Greensleeves', instead!"   

https://youtu.be/GBjkb9bBTU4

[Medi]

...Izee' was teaching S'lene to sing, and they were working on this ballad.  S'lene was having trouble with the intervals, and so Izee' sang the entire song for her.  S'lene shifted her weight, and asked, "Momma, isn't that a song that a Man should sing?"  Izee' smiled, and said, "Isn't tha tune so lovely, an tha words so poignant?  Aye, by tha words, a Man could sing it, but a kajira er another Woman could sing it tae 'Lady Greensleeves'...be that such a wonderful name...'Greensleeves'?"     S'lene nods her head, and Izee' hugs her...and says, "Let us start at tha beginnin, S'lene, an remember tha training I been givin ye on singing 'perfect 5ths.''  S'lene looks at Izee's robe...Izee' had been in the Med Chamber all day.  "Momma, maybe I will write a song for you, and call it 'Redsleeves'."  Izee' sits for a moment, and nods, and softly says..."I would be honored if ye wrote a song fer me."   The two get back to singing the ballad.

https://youtu.be/oDoHIVkWXnQ

 

[Medi]

...This is the SAD state of our legal system...

Everyone here knows what I do when I am working, so there should be no surprises.  I was in a Jury Trial, and opposing counsel was making his opening statement.  He was a real jackass...he had treated me with kind contempt during discovery, as if I was just a poor female who didn't know what I was doing...but he was polite...so I just put up with it.     However, during his opening statement, he began incorporating my last name into 'clever' phrases.  My last name is unusual for a name, but a common word.  I just sat, keeping calm...but the bastard kept adding more 'clever' phrases.  I was trying to look calm, but my right hand fingers were gripping the edge of the table very hard...my knuckles had turned white.    When his next 'clever' phrase was actually rude...I had had enough!!!!!!!!!!  I jumped to my feet...and loudly said to the Judge..."OBJECTION, YOUR HONOR...HE IS MAKING FUN OF MY NAME!!!!!!!!!!!"  The other attorney stopped, and just stared at me...the Judge did the same...the Judge didn't rule on my objection.  I carefully sat back down...maintaining my dignity.     The jerk finished his opening statement, but didn't use my last name again.  I looked over at the Jury after my well reasoned objection...(which is not in any textbook)...most were looking off to the side...but several men had a hand over their faces, and their shoulders were shaking.     Anyway...I calmed down...and KICKED THE BASTARDS ASS!  My client was at fault for causing an automobile accident...but the Jury found that there were NO DAMAGES!     Such is our legal system...

https://youtu.be/MK6TXMsvgQg

[Medi]

...After the funerary pyre, Izee' gets back with her children, after staying with Sidona during the ceremony.  That night, when she fell asleep, Izee' heard this music in her head...she suspected that Marcus had sent it to her to comfort her.  When she woke up that morning, she hoped that Sidona had heard it, too.   

https://youtu.be/Rs8sMjIJ4eI

This is the most amazing movement of the entire Requiem by Faure'.  I had never heard the work until I was admitted to the Conservatory.  We performed it during my Frosh year.  I didn't sing at the performance, I was the Principal Cello of the Orchestra, so I played the hunk of lumber.  I did sing in the chorus as part of a class...all Frosh had to take 'Choral Class'...but the Instructor would kick me out of class when we got closer to the performance date, and say..."Go practice your cello part!"     But, one memory still sticks with me.  In the chorus class, we sang this movement, with a piano accompanyment.  I was singing alto...I swear that every nerve of my body came alive when the sopranos...after the brief pause...sang..."Lux Eterna"...and then we all joined in.  The chord progression and the accompanyment is so rich and complex...and when we finished the development section...singing "Qui a pie, lux es"...we all just stopped and looked at each other...   The teacher laughed, and said..."That is a very common reaction to first time singers.  Now, let's go back and try it again...and, tenors, you need to project more, the altos were covering you up."

[Medi]

...People can make fun of ballet dancers...but JUST watch this!     How do they DO THAT?   

https://youtu.be/Xd2nTXsivHs

[Medi]

...Tristan is teaching his younger siblings how to speak Tuchuk.  All were fluent in Gorean, but Tristan had told them..."We are all now TUCHUK!  Learn the language!"   

https://youtu.be/HEoi6CpaUWw

[Medi]

...My Grandmother, on my Mothers' side, was very Mexican.  She looked Hispanic, and she never bothered to learn English...but...OMG...could she COOK!     She also had an interesting trait, I saw it, and my Mother told me about it.  If there was something going on that was stressful, she would look around, and say..."Pero Como?"  The Spanish words translate to something like "But is"...but the way she used it, it translated to something like "Oh, really?"  I picked up the phrase, and used it around my older brother.  I would crinkle my face to look like Grandma, and imitate her voice as I said "Pero Como?"  He would crack up...   Once, though, he came into the house...he was FURIOUS over something that had happened, and was stomping in the kitchen, shouting...he was REALLY ANGRY!!!     I listened to him...and of course...I couldn't resist...   I crinkled my face into 'Grandma'...I was about to utter the immortal phrase...   He saw me change...and started shouting..."DON'T SAY THAT...DON'T SAY THAT...DON'T SAY THAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!"   He then started laughing...and I didn't utter the words.   

[Medi]

...This is a truly lovely work.     It is 'minimalistic', and it is very tense.  I especially like when the violas start the repeated 16th notes after the opening phrase.  It is like they are scolding the violins, saying..."Finish the phrase, don't just cut it off!!!"  Years ago, my string quartet did a concert to raise money for a local community orchestra. We invited the Conductor to come to my house on a Saturday, when we were rehearsing, so he could hear what we were planning, and also so he could coach us if he wanted.  He decided to coach us, and it was a GREAT two hours, he really knew his stuff about classical chamber music.     We played this piece, last, and tried to make it sound 'pretty'.  I was even doing vibrato on my repeated quarter notes.     He just sat, and looked at us when we finished...and we got nervous.     He then explained the work, and then said..."Play it again...but NONE of you do ANY VIBRATO."  We did...and the work really came alive....what it was meant to be.   

https://youtu.be/32Ag0dBGbvc